


What it takes to stay

by CyanScribe



Series: Partners in crime and awkward flirting [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Author is dying but your comments keep her alive, Awkward Romance, Carla and Kuchel run a bakery, Extremely awkward sex, F/F, F/M, Grisha Yeager is best dad and loves his sons, Heavy angst and screaming, Levi doesn't know what's personal space when it comes to Eren, Levi loves seducing Eren, M/M, Mentor/Protégé, Multi, Protective Eren Yeager, Protective Levi, Slow Build, Spies & Secret Agents, Switching, Zeke Yeager loves his little brother thank you very much, also fluff and lots of pining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2019-10-10 02:54:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17417681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CyanScribe/pseuds/CyanScribe
Summary: Levi Ackerman, a class A colossal douchebag, is known for being the elite of the elite at Recon Corps, an international organization bent on keeping world peace and deactivating the criminal network of the underground. With an ego as massive as his obsession for keeping things immaculate and orderly, it’s no surprise that his pristine and strict world completely flips over when he’s partnered with a hyperactive puppy whose wild hair and oceanic eyes takes his heart and body on a roller coaster ride as they tangle themselves deep in the criminal world in order to bring about some justice in this messed up, cruel world.





	1. Simple and Plain

July was what the calendar seemed to say, but nature had completely different plans. The clouds paraded the sky and curtained the sun. It was a dull grey that painted the sky today and the dull beeping of the alarm that woke him up again. One thud and it ceased its cacophony.

Levi rose and stretched his back, flexing to loosen up his stiff neck, worse than ever. With his customary thousand curses and grumbling, he slid off the bed and walked on his heels to the closet. Pulling open the doors, he lazily examined his clothes. Levi didn’t know what he had expected – everything was immaculately folded, not even a sock out of place. Or maybe his clothes were just frozen in fear. Levi did have an intimidating stare.

Settling on plain grey against pressed plain black slacks, he pulled out a plain black tie along with his plain black blazer and walked back to the bed on his toes. It was a good stretching exercise and definitely had nothing to do with making him feel a few millimeters taller. First, he made the bed, pulling the sheets and tucking the stray ends in, neatly folding the white comforter and fluffing the pillows. Then his plain clothing was laid out on the stupendously wrinkle-free bed sheet. It was one of the gifts that made Levi such a unique specimen – no matter how or what he folded, they would be devoid of creases. Even if they had been lying crumpled in the lost and found bin.

The clock on his nightstand read 5:00 A.M.

Levi hadn’t slept the night before or the night before that, or any other night. Sleep was a luxury for him. He just laid in bed, squirming and thrashing, dozing off for a few seconds before jerking awake. Sleep came to him like waves crashing on the shore – intoxicating him with its lulling melody before receding away laughing and leaving him more frustrated than ever. He rubbed his eyes and face, pausing to stroke the roughness he felt at the lower end of his cheeks. His head throbbed painfully as a reprimand for failing to sleep yet again. Like that was _his_ fault.

With a sigh, Levi trudged to the bathroom where he opted for a shower first. His shirt was plastered to his back, the stickiness of sweat and the stench disgustingly disgusting. Closing the door behind him, Levi stripped with some difficulty and tossed his clothes aside into the basket. Once free of the wet clothes, he took a deep breath and wiped the back of his neck.

Raking his hair, he turned the knob. Water rained down with a hiss, soaking him in an instant. He raised the temperature bit by bit, testing how much his body could handle. Apparently, it was a lot. The water was scalding but Levi found it comforting. He groaned deeply as the drops ran down his sore neck and back, muscles relaxing considerably. Hot water always did the trick.

Levi stood under the shower head for a while, trying to shake off the ache in his limbs and washing off the sweat that encased his chest and back. Smearing a generous amount of shampoo on his hands, he added a few drops of water and worked to form lather; then carefully applied it to his hair and spread it out evenly, working through the knots. After a moment’s thinking, he attempted to massage his scalp but his headache worsened. Giving up, Levi rinsed. Just a bath would be enough then.

* * *

He came out of the tub later and went to the little cabinet at the other end of the bathroom that stored his favorite fluffy towels. Drying himself and donning a pair of briefs, Levi approached the sink next. The mirror grew foggier the closer Levi came, not unlike the state of his mind when headaches plagued him.

Levi half-wished he hadn’t wiped the mirror clean. A gaunt ghost stared back, eyes more lined than ever and hair sloppily dripping. He looked like stale cornflakes left to rot in a bowl of sour milk. He _felt_ like stale cornflakes left to rot in a bowl of sour milk.

The handle at the mirror’s side was pulled and it swung forward to reveal shaving blades, toothbrushes, tubes of toothpaste and other uninteresting articles. Levi took out his can of shaving foam and applied the white paste all over his chin, lower cheeks and the philtrum of his nose. Now he looked like a zombified Santa Claus with spectacular hair. Levi reached for a razor, cursed the razor, pulled out a new razor and threw the old razor in the trash. It landed on the floor instead and Levi cursed it some more.

Lifting the new blade to a point just below his ear lobe, he frowned in concentration as he dragged the blade carefully. He had enough scars and did not want to add a new one to his collection.

The blade trembled on his chin. His breathing switched from autopilot to manual. What would it be like, he wondered, to just press the blade a bit too tight into his skin, to feel it cut in, to feel the flesh tear, to feel the blood seep out – watching other people’s flesh tearing, watching other people’s blood seep out – 

Levi was kneeling on the floor, shaking and sweating from head to toe. Not again. No, not again – he was supposed to have moved past this! Why was he on the floor again? Why was he sweating again? Why did he let this happen again and again and again without any restraints, without stopping himself, without bothering to make an effort at all – why did this keep happening?

He panted awhile, pressing his forehead to the cool tiles. Nails scratched the tiles in search of something to hold on to and he found the sink’s pipes and grabbed them, inching closer to the wall. Levi stayed there, curled under the sink, forcing air to his lungs and spitting out bits of shaving foam as he fought convulsion after convulsion. 

When it finally passed, Levi slowly came out from under the sink. He spotted the fallen razor and picked it up. Looking in the mirror to help steady his breathing, Levi took the can of cream and applied the paste over his face again with trembling fingers. He waited for the shaking to stop before deciding to let the razor on his skin.

Once done with his bathroom duties, Levi came out feeling more tired than usual. Or maybe it was his usual tiredness; he couldn’t tell with these attacks. Pushing his clothes aside, he collapsed on the bed. A quick nap for a few seconds wouldn’t hurt, he told himself, forcing his eyes close.

* * *

The clock now read 7:30. He had actually slept for a solid two hours.

Maybe he ought to sleep more often after a shave and an attack.

Levi pulled on his grey shirt, buttoning it up till the collar and smoothening out invisible creases. Buckling his belt and straightening his tie, he ran a comb through his hair, parted it neatly and left a few strands hanging. They hid the lines underneath his eyes partially, which was a win. Shrugging on the black blazer, Levi spared one last look at his bedroom – grey walls, white ceiling, clean tiles, neat bed, desk, and wardrobe plus a dressing table with a big mirror.

Simple and plain. Just the way Levi liked it.

As he nibbled on a piece of toast, he scrolled through his tablet for something interesting to hopefully distract him from the accursed headache. It was far too early for a proper breakfast and Levi knew if he ate anything that was slightly more complex than a small slice of bread, his stomach would say ‘nope’ and kick everything out. And his stomach said nope to almost everything.

Except tea. When Levi couldn’t sleep at night, his thoughts were mostly about constructing a perfect shrine for the angel who invented tea.

The news was a fucking train wreck and the only bit Levi had found mildly interesting was about a new brand of detergent that was apparently sweeping the globe. Hmm. He might have to pay a trip to the supermarket later. He sighed again, vexed, and shoved the tablet into his laptop bag.

Pulling on his socks and a pair of polished black Oxfords, Levi grabbed his black trench coat and buttoned it half-way. Slinging the laptop bag over his shoulder, he left.

* * *

It wasn’t cold but Levi couldn’t repress the light shiver that ran down his spine as he emerged out of the building and into the parking lot where his grey Q7 stood waiting. He looked around, steely eyes narrowed as he took in the surroundings which were mostly empty. June should have brought with it the scorching sun and air so saturated with water it made him want to migrate to Antarctica but maybe nature simply wasn’t feeling it today. The clouds floated lazily.

Being a cloud must feel nice.

Sighing and pulling his coat tighter about his frame, Levi unlocked his car and slipped in. Shutting the door, he turned the key in the ignition and a roar announced the engine coming to life. Levi put his foot down on the gas and pulled out of the parking lot. Greeting the security guard with a curt nod, the car sped away from his apartment building.

People were already up and about, working their way up and down the cobbled sidewalks. Some jogged past him in tracksuits and earphones tangled about their necks; others ambled by with half-eaten bagels or pretzels covered in napkins accompanied by the occasional coffee. The café around the corner had excellent business with the locals and even Levi had to admit their blueberry muffins were delectable. Speaking of which, his stomach voiced its opinion on Levi’s poor breakfast earlier.

Levi pulled up in front of the little cream and brown café. He had absolutely no idea why someone worth their salt would name it ‘Coffee Crush’ but meh; the food they made was worth it. The barista was also quite nice – she left Levi alone and didn’t talk to him apart from taking his orders.

The café was already bustling with people; half the tables were occupied. To his satisfaction, his usual table tucked away at the corner was empty. Setting the bell tinkling as he entered, Levi quickly went up to the counter. The young woman smiled as he came, kind blue eyes crinkling at him whilst spreading cheese over a bagel.

“Good morning Levi,” she placed the spreader aside and called out for her companion to deliver the order. “The usual?”

“Good morning Freida, and yes.”

Another girl popped up beside him, an exact copy of Freida save for her blonde hair. “Hi Levi!”

“Hi,” Levi passed the tray to her. She thanked him with a smile so blinding that he squinted a little. What was up with those teeth?

With a nod to her sister, he took his usual spot at the corner next to neatly arranged pots of gladioli. The flowers were in full bloom, their variegated petals tender and vibrant. Levi hummed softly, tapping his knuckles on the polished wood and legs comfortably crossed in the fluffy armchair as he watched Historia skip from table to table with a smile here and a friendly greeting there as she set down trays and bills. Most of the customers followed her with hearts in their eyes. Half of them came here just for the sisters. Well, the food was good too, but the sisters were better.

Levi checked his watch.

8:00 A.M.

He was early.


	2. The Yeager Household

The sun seemed almost shy to enter the room and the man buried beneath the heaps of covers was even more so of coming out. It was July for fuck’s sake, and her human still felt an ardent need to smother himself in ten blankets. Lupa rolled her eyes and trotted over to the bed.

She tried to pry the blankets apart with her paws, but humans had it much easier with their fingers. Her furry paws kept slipping on the smooth blankets and worse, Eren seemed to have completely cocooned himself inside his blanket fort. Every end was tucked under his ginormous frame. After many unsuccessful attempts to awaken him, she leaped on to the bed. His tanned forehead was peeking out from a corner, eyelids closed and face serene. Naturally, Lupa decided to disturb him.

Sniffing once or twice at her human, she slipped her pink tongue out and sloppily groomed him. His mane had grown out of control and it was perfect for a bird to nest in. In fact, she wouldn’t have been surprised if there were eggs in there. When Eren mumbled something and turned away from her without waking up, Lupa snorted. The new position exposed his bare back and the blankets were no longer firmly pressed in. She pulled his covers down with her teeth and set to give him a bath, lapping her tongue over his neck and collarbones.

A sudden jerk told she had done her job well. Eren’s eyes sleepily fluttered, flashing small glimpses of green. He tossed the blankets off him sluggishly and blinked around in a daze. Then he giggled and collapsed on the bed again, one leg dangling over the edge.

Lupa shook her head and nudged his sides. Eren groaned and rolled over, curling himself in a fetal position.

“Mrugh,” he told her.

Lupa barked and licked his ear.

Eren gave another monstrous grunt and sat up. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, stretching out his back gracefully; he stared at the wardrobe opposite to him for quite some time before he came to his senses and realized he was dripping wet.

“Aw, gross!” Eren pulled a face at the drool over his nightshirt. Beside him, Lupa snickered.

Green eyes turned to her. “How many times have I told you not to do that?” he asked, without any real anger in his voice. Lupa merely licked his forearm and yipped happily, earning her an amused chuckle.

“C’mere,”

Eren’s hands moved for her stomach and she immediately laid down. Her human proceeded to vigorously rub her tummy, tickling her and she wagged her tongue out as the pure bliss cascaded through her, something only Eren’s precious tummy rubs could bring. He knew quite well how to give tummy rubs. That was one of the reasons she had instantly agreed to be adopted by him.

He got off the bed, with some difficulty of course, as he was tangled in his stupid blanket nest, and tripped over thin air, a talent he was exceptionally skilled in. Eren yawned again, ruffling the already existing nightmare on his head when his eyes fell on his least favorite object in the room: the alarm clock lying on its side on the floor.

7:00 A.M.

He glared at the alarm clock before shrugging and lazily strutting over to his closet. Lupa pushed his covers aside and got off the bed too. She shook her head in disapproval at the clock that was fallen on the floor and picked it up with her mouth before setting it on the desk beside the bed.  Her human was a sweet and easy-going person to be around with and could get along with almost anyone. But he had a furious and intolerant animosity towards this alarm clock. Lupa amused herself in the mornings by listening to the beautiful words pouring out his mouth whenever it woke him up, sometimes followed by Eren crashing on the floor in his haste to get up and switch it off.

The closet doors squeaked open and Eren stared at the folds of fabric, lost. Lupa sniffed in disapproval at his mane, resisting the urge to knock him to the floor and tame the unholy mess. Her human was more like her pup than her owner, with her constantly taking care of him and making sure he didn’t wind up in a ditch somewhere. Eren meant well and was a healthy, strong and bright male. That didn’t mean he was completely free of the dreadful disease that was stupidity. And neither was Zeke.

At least Zeke had neater hair.

Eren’s posture slackened and he slumped against one of the shelves. Concerned, Lupa padded over to him and barked. When he didn’t respond, she nudged his leg.

_Eren? Did you eat something bad last night? Are you lonely?_

Lupa barked again, tilting her head. Was her human sick? His head was certainly down and the usual air of energy was nowhere to be seen around him. Lupa whined softly, standing up on her hind legs to paw at Eren’s chest. Her human still didn’t say anything.

Then a snore suddenly erupted from Eren.

Lupa barked in reprimanding and Eren jerked awake again. “I’m up!” he announced to the air. “I’m awake! I’m perfectly up and awake, see?” he pointed to his wide eyes. “I’m not asleep. I’m not sleepy, yup, no I’m definitely not sleepy,” he turned and slammed into the closet door. “Fuck you too,” he told it. Then when Lupa grunted, he said, “It’s not my fault! Zeke forced me to watch Toy Story with him till one in the morning! And mum has added too much fabric conditioner to my shirts,” Eren took out a grey fabric and bent down, holding the thing close to her nose. “Smell it! It’s good and makes me want to sleep again,”

Lupa took a few hesitant sniffs and shook her nose. No. She didn’t like this fabric conditioner.

“Aw, it’s good!” Eren placed the shirt back on the shelf and searched for his clothes for the day, chewing on his lip as he did. Lupa impatiently nudged his leg, scolding him to take a bath.

“Damn it, I already have a mum for this you know?” he mumbled and grabbed a few things. He trudged towards the bathroom, Lupa close at his heels.

Eren had evidently decided to take a shower instead of a simple bath. Closing the door behind him, he stripped and tossed his briefs aside into a basket. Lupa surveyed his toned and muscled body in liking; despite knowing close to nothing about human looks and standards, even _she_ knew that her human was a very fine suitor for a mate. She wagged her tail in approval when Eren turned around and spotted her. He instantly smirked.

“Like the view?”

_Oh, you stupid pup._

Eren knelt and his hands found that sweet, sweet spot of hers under her chin. He stroked her there. “You know, sometimes I wonder if you’re actually some kind of shape-shifter that has a human form and is just sitting there, enjoying seeing me make an ass of myself. Or just enjoying my ass in general. Are you?” he asked seriously but his forest eyes shone with mirth.

Lupa snorted. _Both._

Eren dropped a kiss on her forehead and stood up. He pushed the curtain aside and stumbled into the tub, playing with the knobs and doing whatever weird shit humans did before the metal rod above him started raining. Eren gave a gleeful cry and shook his head, sending drops of water raining over the bathroom. Lupa sighed.

He really was her pup.

She climbed into the tub with him and yipped to get his attention. He looked down, pushing his wet mane back and his eyes widened.

“You want a bath?” he asked, kneeling down to meet her.

Lupa wagged her tail to let him know her answer.

Eren looked unsure for a moment before he shrugged. He twisted the knobs again to make the rain stop and went to the small cabinet at the opposite end of the bathroom. He rummaged in it for something and came back with a bottle in hand. Lupa sniffed, and at once, the fruity smell of citrus overwhelmed her. Mmm, she loved that smell. Better than stupid fabric conditioner.

Eren picked her up with a grunt and proceeded to fill the tub with water. When it was full, he gently lowered her in again. Smearing some of the shampoo in his hand from the bottle, he rubbed it over her murky grey and snowy white fur. He combed it, gently sorting her tangles with his fingers and gave her an occasional rub. When it came to her tail, she decided to have some fun with him, wagging it about to and froth and snickering as Eren tried to get her to stay still and catch it. He slipped and fell twice, painfully banging his elbow on the tub’s rim before he finally caught it.

“You little shit,” he spat shampoo from his mouth.

Lupa shoved her tail up his nose and Eren sneezed.

When he had finished, he washed her thoroughly, draining her fur of the sweet-smelling liquid and toweled her dry. Her fur stuck up everywhere but then Eren brought out the accursed dryer. She hated the thing for it sounded not unlike a vacuum cleaner, which was high on her ‘destroy and bury the remains in the garden’ list. But once the warm air hit her core, Lupa sighed.

She shook once and Eren groomed her carefully with a brush. He sorted her fur out and scratched her behind the ears before stepping back with satisfaction.

“You’re a beauty,” he cooed at her. Lupa barked in agreement. Of course she was; say otherwise and she’d most likely rip your arm off. She was a Northern Inuit, and a fierce one at that.

“Ok, it’s my turn. Sit,” he told her and pulled the curtain to conceal himself as he stepped inside the shower. The song of rain filled Lupa’s ears once again.

* * *

Eren was screeching like a banshee a few seconds later as he went on a rampage in his room, destroying the neatly folded piles of clothes in his closet and messing his sheets and blankets as he looked for his clothes.

“WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK DO YOU MEAN MY ALARM CLOCK RAN OUT OF BATTERIES?!” he roared at the blonde man standing at the doorway, who was thoroughly enjoying himself. Eren was clad only in a full-sleeved white shirt and his boxer briefs. He looked like he had been out on a date only to end up being dumped in the midst of a hurricane.

“I was supposed to get new batteries yesterday. Oopsie,” Zeke drawled.

“Zeke, one day I’m gonna give you an ass pounding so hard your ass will look like a pair of tomatoes run over by a bulldozer,” Eren swore as he pulled his black trousers over his long, tanned legs and tucked his shirt in. Lupa strutted about as she dug out Eren’s blazer and tie from his closet. Bringing them to Zeke earned her a grateful head ruffle and she stood aside to let her other pup do the rest.

Pulling Eren towards him, Zeke turned his collar up, knotted the tie for him and buttoned up the rest of his shirt before neatly pressing it down and freeing it from any wrinkles. He helped Eren shrug on his blazer and taking a brush from the dresser, chucked it at his brother.

“Ow!” Eren yelped and sucked on his finger, having missed his catch. He ran to the mirror and brushed his hair down, fervently going through the knots and combing his locks. The chocolate hair bounced out, soft and long enough to gently graze his shoulders. Eren raked it back and hurriedly tied it up in a bun, a few strands messily falling out of place.

“You look like Rapunzel after Eugene cut off her hair. Are you gonna wear a lilac gown and start bludgeoning people with frying pans?” Zeke enquired.

“No, I’m gonna grow my hair out longer so that I can strangle you with it while singing that stupid flower song,” Eren retorted as he grabbed a bottle of his favorite oriental cologne and sprayed a teensy amount over him. Too much gave him headaches, but a little dab was always fine. Zeke helped him ram his clothes messily back inside the closet and they bolted downstairs.

The clock hung above the mantelpiece read 8:00 A.M.

“Huh. It’s not that late,” Eren stared at the clock before suspiciously glaring at Zeke. “Did you mess up that one too?” he accused his brother. Zeke’s hand flew over his heart as he gasped dramatically and accidentally stepped over Lupa’s tail. The dog yelped and looked up at him reproachfully.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” he ruffled Lupa’s head again before turning back to the brunet. “Me?! Tinker with the clocks? How dare you lay such flimsy accusations that I may have actually carried out – Oi!” Zeke shouted as Eren pulled off his glasses and ran with them to the kitchen.

“Eren, you better give me those back or –”

“Or what?” Eren snorted as he leaned against the doorway to watch Zeke try and clumsily maneuver through the living room. Curses accompanied thuds as Zeke banged into every known furniture in the world. “Shake your walking cane at me old man?”

“No, but at the rate he’s been banging himself against the coffee table lately, I’m afraid we’ll have to amputate his leg off,” a voice behind Eren greeted him, amused.

Eren set Zeke’s glasses down and pulled up a chair to sit next to his father, an exact copy of Zeke but with Eren’s brown hair. He was already dressed up for work and scrutinized the newspaper while holding out a fork with bacon on it.

“Moooorning dad,” Eren yawned, knocking over a glass and hurriedly righting it again. “What did mum make?” he reached out for the jug of orange juice across the table.

“Bacon and eggs are in the pan, muffins are in the oven,” Grisha said, taking a bite from his fork.

“Ooooooh,” Eren rubbed his hands and bounced over to the oven. The moment he yanked the door open, the sweet aroma of apple and cinnamon floated up his nose and Eren’s mouth tingled, signaling for extra saliva in response to the heavenly scent. He inhaled deeply and groaned.

“Apples? Did you tell her to make these?” he perked his eyebrows at his father. Grisha smiled.

“You and Zeke love them,”

“Better than blueberries,” Eren agreed happily and pulled the tray out of the oven with the help of a mitt. He inhaled the scent again, basking in the warmth that only his mother’s cooking could bring. He poked once or twice at the spongy bread and tried to persuade one to leave its comfy muffin hole in the tray when a heavy thud announced Zeke’s arrival. He had managed to blindly stumble into the kitchen, after banging his head against the wall, and put his hands on the table, feeling for his glasses.

“A little bit to the left,” Grisha instructed him and following his directions Zeke got his glasses back on his face. Pushing them up the bridge of his nose, his eyes fell on Eren trying to elicit a muffin out of the pan.

“Dad, Eren is molesting the muffins.”

“Eren, stop molesting the muffins.”

“But they smell so good!”

“I might have added too much cinnamon,” a new voice joined the kitchen and Carla entered, honey eyes crinkled fondly. Her hair was put up in a bun with a few stray strands running wild. She gave a quick peck on Grisha’s cheek before turning to Eren. “What are you doing young man?” she demanded.

“Molesting the muffins,”

Carla swatted his shoulder. “They are for you and Zeke, so I expect you both to share like the decent, gentlemen your father raised you to be,” she teased, carefully pulling them all out of the tray and setting them on plates. Eren and Zeke gave each other incredulous looks.

“Share? Mother dearest, we are brothers.” Eren pointed to himself and Zeke, who nodded. “The universal sibling code says siblings do _not_ share,” Zeke added.

“Fine then. Lupa gets all the muffins,”

“NO!” Zeke squealed in horror.

“We’ll share,” Eren snatched the muffins and he split them evenly between himself and Zeke, quickly popping one into his mouth and moaning as he chewed. The texture was buttery and fluffy on his tongue and melted immediately, perfectly sweet with a hint of spiciness.  Eren clutched the back of a chair to stop himself from sinking down and rolling over the floor.  

“Mum, you should open a bakery,” he said thickly, reaching for another muffin despite not having completely finished the first one. Lupa barked in agreement and wagged her tail. Realizing that she was present as well, Carla immediately took her bowl from the shelf and put it down, piling it with her favorite kibbles. Rubbing Carla’s leg in gratitude, Lupa gave a short yip and attacked the bowl.

Carla took out two paper bags and packed the remaining muffins into it neatly and folded their top. “I’m actually thinking about it… I used to make all sorts of things with my best friend in high school, and our stuff would sell like hotcakes at charity events… I’m just looking for a partner to team up with,”

“Why don’t you contact this friend of yours?” Grisha suggested, motioning with his fork.

Carla’s face fell at that. “I don’t know… we haven’t been in touch for so many years, I don’t even know what’s become of her,” she mumbled and looked lost for a moment before reverting back.

“Zeke, you forgot to take your lunch last time so please don’t miss it again, sweetie,” Carla said as she handed his paper bag over.

“Will do. I’m not forgetting these; even Gordon Ramsay would be pleased.” Zeke winked at her and she swatted his arm as well, her cheeks glowing. 

“Excuse me, but I’m the only one allowed to make my wife blush,” Grisha stated whilst taking a sip of his coffee, which made Carla blush harder. Eren, supposedly being the only one with some form of grit, turned away to mimic vomiting in the sink.

“Y’all are disgusting saps,” he told them and Zeke chucked a spoon at him. It missed and nosily clanged in the sink.

“And you are a fucking teletubby, dancing around in the sun,” Zeke returned with grace.

“Zeke, it’s not fair to call him a teletubby when you were bawling last night about Andy leaving for college,” Carla reminded him.

“There’s no age limit to watch Toy Story and cry over Andy leaving for college,” Zeke crammed the last bit of his breakfast into his mouth and grabbed the car keys. “Alright, it’s time to go,”

“Bye mum,” Eren kissed her cheek and received one in return as Carla fussed over him, trying to smooth his tie out. Looking at his father who was still focused on the newspaper, Eren cleared his throat.

“Dad, don’t let anyone die,” he said softly and his father looked up. Grisha Yeager was a renowned cardiologist and surgeon at the Trost general hospital, famed for not having let a single patient die under his care. Though Eren knew that sooner or later, his father might fail to save a life due to circumstances beyond his control, he kept his fingers crossed every day, hoping and praying.

Grisha's mouth curved. “I’ll do my best. Oh, and Zeke?” he called. Zeke’s blonde head poked back into the kitchen.

“Yes pops?”

“Hold your brother’s hand while crossing the road,”

Carla and Grisha chuckled as the brothers groaned in unison.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My thirst for a happy Yeager family has finally been quenched!


	3. Terror at first sight

Eren had to check whether the calendar was the right one or not. It said July, but nature said _‘fuck you, I do what I want’_

It wasn’t too cold, but Eren couldn’t repress the light shiver that ran down his spine, prompting him to button up his pea coat as he and Zeke emerged out of their parents’ house. They had been invited over for the weekend because Carla always kept complaining about how she couldn’t get to see enough of her babies and fatten them with her baked goods.

Eren and Zeke shared an apartment together in the suburbs, an arrangement both brothers were comfortable with. Zeke claimed that the only reason he wasn’t found dead and rotting in the sewers with rats feasting on his marvelous dick was because of his precious baby brother who had hauled his drunken ass safely back to their home numerous times after a night of  ‘light’ recreation – a feeling mutually shared by Lupa as well. Eren, on the other hand, had found it tantalizing to fling Zeke in the nearest dumpster one too many times.

He peered back to glimpse their home – a modest brick property with a balcony and a small, sweet garden that Carla fawned over. Then it disappeared from view as they turned around the corner and emerged into the main street. The cobbled sidewalks were already bustling with people, despite it being a weekend. Most of them were in coats owing to the strange chill. Zeke joked that there were dementors about.

“You think there could have been some break-in from Azkaban?” he asked.

“Yeah, they’re looking for you,” Eren shoved him lightly but Zeke ended up slamming into the street pole. Snorting heavily, he helped Zeke find his fallen glasses and return them to their rightful place.

Most of the shops neatly lining the street still bore the ‘closed’ sign on their doors. Eren idly stared at the displays behind the glass, taking in mannequins dressed in flashy outfits, teddy bears and other sickly sweet articles, books, magazines and newspapers, stationery stuff, and China artifacts with disinterest. Zeke wanted to drop by at the nearby café that he was quite fond of, assuring firmly it was only for the coffee and definitely not for the cute barista that happened to draw little cats on their lattes. Eren rolled his eyes; anybody could (and everybody did) catch Zeke’s eyes. He could even flirt with a bald eagle or try to seduce a banana peel and it would still be the most normal thing Eren had ever seen. 

They arrived at the café around the corner: Coffee Crush. Eren had absolutely no idea where the roots for the name choice were planted but couldn’t deny that their coffee was amazing. And the special Wednesday lemon meringue was his favorite.  Zeke insisted on having some caffeine in his system before they tackled work or he’d become a malevolent gorilla for the rest of the day so Eren gave in. He was not particularly full anyway and decided he could use an extra bite. Or maybe that was just his extra large stomach talking.

The little bell tinkled to announce their arrival as Eren pushed the door open. The sugary warmth of the café enveloped at him once, surging through his chilly parts and jerking them awake. Behind him, Zeke did an odd sort of jig.

“Hey there!” A cheery voice rang out in greeting and Eren smiled automatically in reply. The barista, a pretty young woman clad in a denim skirt and cream blouse, hailed them over. Grabbing Zeke by the wrist firmly, Eren dragged him to the counter.

“Hi Freida!” he gave her a little wave. “Busy day?”

Freida Reiss and her half-sister Historia ran the sweet little café that had become a sort of second home for him and Zeke. They were frequent customers here and the sisters were fun company. Be it for a friendly chat or much-needed caffeine refill, Historia was always there with her bright smile to help out. Anything and everything that Freida’s hands prepared competed stiffly with Carla’s own delicacies. Together, they had worked hard to make their dream of running a café turn to reality after their father had abandoned them and their mother had passed away. And well, one didn’t need to ask further to know how it had all turned out. The café was a favorite haunt of half the populace of the district. Historia worked part-time, however, owing to her training alongside Eren at Recon.

“Even more so than usual,” Freida held a paper cup underneath the foam dispenser, a lid already twitching in her other hand. “It’s so cold... and in July! We’re getting twice the order for a steaming bowl of tomato soup (nothing I can’t manage though) but this is weird! I mean –” she flipped the switch and placed the cup on the counter, grabbed a metallic can and squirted whipped cream on top, “– it's so cloudy! Of course, if this were India it’d make sense because well, it’s always cloudy there during this time of the year, but we’re not in India and I have no idea what is going – Historia, here’s the order for table twelve –” Freida called and her sister came out of thin air, blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail. She took the cup from Freida and ran away again, not before giving Eren a grin and mouthing ‘talk later’.

Eren nodded at her and turned back to Freida. “Definitely busy. Outside feels like a damn refrigerator,”

Freida shuddered. “Please. We opened at six and almost froze,”

“Mm,” Zeke agreed dreamily. It was the first time he had spoken so far. He leaned forward and folded his arms over the counter, eyes trained on Freida. “Well, maybe you’re to blame. We’re all freezing our balls off here because you might have sucked in all the warmth,”

Eren felt his insides slowly decay and turn to dust.

He painfully turned to look at his brother, who was still smirking wolfishly at the barista. Freida’s brows twitched. “…Wow… ha ha,” she said mechanically, her smile conveying absolute agony.

Before Zeke could open his mouth again and further demolish their dignity, Eren dragged him to the nearest table by the scruff of his neck and flung him at the armchair. “What the fuck baby brother?!” Zeke opened his arms wide as though questioning the heavens where he had gone wrong. “What, am I not allowed to impress my lady now?”

“One, she is not your lady. Two, you are banned from flirting,” Eren pulled his chair closer to the table and held up a third finger, “Three, that was the _absolute worst_ thing you have ever said in your entire lifetime and it includes that time when you were in fifth grade and called me ‘a drumstick with scurvy’,”

Zeke crossed his arms and pouted. “Aw come on, it wasn’t that bad… she blushed!”

“Yes, it was. And no, she didn’t. Now shut up,”

Historia passed their table with a tray laden with half-eaten plates. “I’ll get back to you guys in a sec.” She told them, patting Eren on the shoulder. Zeke twisted in his seat to drool at Freida who was busy with her back to him at the counter. With a sigh and an eye roll, Eren idly looked around the café, taking in the plush armchairs, neat little tables, some bean bags here and there, pots of colorful gladioli whose variegated petals fell gracefully open, the doodles of coffee, snacks and dessert drawn over the wall, the ease of chatting people and Historia tending to a customer seated at the extreme corner. He frowned a little – who in their right mind would want to be tucked away all alone in the corner like that?

Eren leaned over on his chair, trying to catch a glimpse of the person whose face was hidden by a large, pink gladiolus. Historia's polite voice carried over to Eren but wasn’t distinct enough for him to make out what she was saying. He saw her nod and she went away with a plate in hand, her boots echoing loudly on the wooden floor. Eren edged his chair further, craning his neck to spot the mystery person. The flower petals obscured most of the man – Eren assumed it to be a man – but he could catch glimpses of a black fringe and pale skin. The man brought a teacup to his lips and took a sip. As he did, his eyes traveled up and met Eren’s.

 _Silver_.

He leaned a tad too far; the chair fell with a crash, pulling Eren along with it. He cried sharply as his head painfully collided with the floor with a loud bang. Vision blurred by sudden tears, Eren blinked in a daze and scrambled to his feet hurriedly but slipped and fell back again. Someone took his arm and firmly made him sit on the soft cushion. His eyes were fucking _burning_ and his head pounded as someone frantically rubbed the back of his skull.

“Zeke?” Eren grunted. He leaned forward to quickly wipe the tear streaks from his chin and blinked a dozen times, unable to get rid of the burning sensation. Why the fuck were wooden floors so hard?

“How many times have I told you not to do that?” a female scolded and Eren realized it was Historia, not Zeke. When had she gotten here? He scooted away from her, rubbing his head and commanding it to stop its contents from sloshing around. He was vaguely aware of how the café was doused in silence and knew all eyes were on him.

“Ow, ok yeah, I know,” Eren muttered and forced a smile. “I’m fine; perfectly fine, see?”

“You do that again and I’ll chain you up to the table,” Historia threatened him.

“I think Zeke would like that.” Eren rubbed his head, wincing in pain. Fuck, now a headache would sooner or later make a grand appearance and haunt him for the rest of the day. “Do you have some aspirin?” he asked her, squinting.

“I’m getting it,” she ruffled his hair in the spot where he had hit the floor and went away. As soon as she had disappeared, Zeke rounded on him with his wheezy laughter.

 “What was all that about? And you call me out on flirting with Freida while you go kiss the floor whilst ogling at Historia, eh?” He wagged his eyebrows suggestively and Eren glared back.

“Shut the fuck up,”

“Not very subtle baby brother,” Zeke used his annoying ‘I'm your wise big brother’ voice. “There are better ways for you to catch a woman’s attention than falling on the floor, though that was effective in your case,”

“Whatever,” Eren grumbled, rubbing his temple. The chatter resumed as the people went back to eating their cupcakes and or whatever it is that they were eating; Eren inhaled and focused his energy on tuning out Zeke’s rambling about how to perfectly seduce someone (which involved using hydrogen peroxide for purposes Eren prayed he’d never find about).

Ignoring some of the others who were still looking at him, Eren searched for his mystery person; the gladiolus that had previously concealed him had now been pushed aside.

His heart nearly stopped.

The man was glaring at him with such intensity that Eren felt he was trying to disintegrate him to ash with his eyes. He looked like someone you’d see on crime TV with the tag ‘most wanted – if you find him, please pray that he considers you as a part of a brick wall and run away as fast possible’; The dark circles under his eyes made Eren wonder if he was somehow related to a raccoon. As though having read his mind, the man scowled at him over his cup.

Eren immediately turned away, terror making his heart pound so hard in his chest he thought it wanted to burst from his rib cage and get away as far as possible from the café. His hands twitched, aching to reach for the gun that he carried on his person at all times and shoot the guy then and there before he pulled something.  The guy definitely had to be some sort of criminal on the run.

“Hey. Eren. Earth to Eren. My brother from another mother, look at me!”

Eren received a thwack to his cheek which shook him out of his momentary terror. The blow stung and he clamped a hand over it, trembling slightly. Zeke peered at him over his glasses, bewildered.

“You looked like you were having a seizure,” he said, placing a hand on Eren’s shoulder. “You’re not going to go full-on panic mode on me, are you? I’m not qualified for that shit.”

“No… no, I’m fine.”

“Eren?”

“I’ll tell you later.” Eren hastily rearranged his expression into a nonchalant one as Historia reappeared with a steaming cup of coffee, a glass of water and two white pills. “You’re a goddess,” he told her, taking a pill and tossing into his mouth. Pulling a face at the chalky taste, he downed half the water in one gulp.

“Do you want something to eat?” she asked with concern. “I can give you some chocolate,”

Eren stuck his tongue out and wagged it in the air, feeling like he could gag any minute. “Bweh,” he told Historia, drinking more water to wash out the bitterness.

“I’ll take that as a yes. What about you Zeke?”

“What’s the sweetest thing on the menu?” he straightened his glasses. “Apart from you and Freida,”

The water burst through his nose like a jet spray and Eren fell down again, coughing and spluttering. He heard Zeke cackling above him and Historia scolding Zeke for his inappropriate timing. Eren’s throat burned now. He straightened up and yanked ten napkins from the holder to wipe his face with and clear the mess on the table, repeatedly assuring Historia that yes, he was perfectly fine and no, he wanted to clean the table and nothing she said would change his mind.

While Zeke paid for the coffee and the pills (again, Historia refused to take the money for the pills but Eren shoved the change into her palm and closed her fingers around it), Eren looked around for his scary mystery man, eyes landing on the corner table where pots of pink and yellow gladioli flanked about, their petals now more vibrant than ever in the glow of the sun that had finally decided to show up.

There was no one there.


	4. Iris

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is a pun y'all. Kudos to those who got it.

On the list of top ten places best suited to hide a secret agent, cafés ranked second place. The first was public restrooms.

Freida understood his needs very well ever since his first accidental visit to the café a few months ago; after all, Historia herself was a recruit in training at Recon and was one of the main reasons Freida was so comfortable and diligent with Levi. She said she didn’t understand any of their spy stuff, but as long as Historia was happy and safe, she couldn’t care less. Upon discovering Levi’s identity, she had requested him to keep an eye on her, in exchange for free tea and muffins every day. Levi had denied the offer but agreed to mentor the girl. He didn’t see much of her for he was a senior agent and she was still a cadet, but the few meetings he did happen to have with her in passing showed her comfortably happy with her job and working hard to climb up the ranks. She was small but by no means the sweet and polite little doll in combat. Levi had seen her in action quite a few times and it was hard to not be impressed.

After the first visit, Freida had been quick to reserve that one table at the corner just for him, with plenty of sweet gladioli to conceal anybody who sat there with their many colorful frills and folds. And Levi’s physique was an added bonus to blending with the surroundings. Or in other words, the dude was so short he was almost invisible when he sat down.

So at his usual table did he sit, waiting for his usual plate of a single blueberry muffin accompanied by a steaming cup of Assam.  Historia delivered his order on a tray neatly laden with a sparkling spoon, a fork, his precious muffin and a cup of deep red liquid that sent out thin vapors.

The first bite revealed just how hungry he was. His stomach, now ready to accept more offerings, devoured the first muffin within seconds and demanded more. After debating whether or not calling Historia back for another muffin would be worth the effort, he decided to have his tea instead whilst spying on the people that went and came, taking mental notes and laughing at them in his head. It was his favorite pastime – judge people while drinking his favorite tea and hidden behind plants with nobody to suspect he even existed.

The tinkling of the bell announced more customers coming in to escape the strange chill of July. Levi shifted in his seat, tilting his neck to see which unsuspecting creature had walked in on his mockery session. His fingers tightened around the teacup at the glimpse of blonde hair and round glasses.

Zeke fucking Yeager.

Levi pulled the potted plants closer to make sure he stayed hidden forever. It wouldn’t do for him to be discovered here; Zeke would never leave him alone.

A colleague of Levi’s, Zeke Yeager was the head of the laboratory department alongside Levi’s best friend Hanji Zoe. The two were the ones who took care of analyzing the evidence and samples found, integrating the current technological know-how with their deadly knowledge of the human body to produce some of the terrifying weapons and chemicals Levi had ever seen. Zeke was also an expert on computer systems and served as a hacker for Recon with Hanji’s assistant Moblit Berner. But his talents were not just limited to science and tech – he also happened to be the human equivalent of a giant bag of dicks, scientifically proven by Levi himself (Hanji claimed that his proof had no scientific basis whatsoever but honestly who cared; he was right). The fucker played around with literally every agent in Recon, even the recruits. No matter where he went, Levi would always find him aiming his wolfish grin and traumatizing one-liners at poor, unsuspecting cadets or fellow agents alike.

The blonde monkey swaggered over to the counter with hearts plastered on his eyes. Levi took another sip of his Assam, tilting his neck ever so slightly to see his shenanigans clearly. If Zeke showed any signs of bothering Freida, he would take it upon himself to kick his colleague out of the café.

He was saved the trouble when another man accompanying Zeke twisted the blonde’s ears and dragged him away from the counter and towards one of the tables placed around pots of periwinkle irises. The bluish-purple hue of the petals complimented the cream and brown of the café surprisingly well and Levi inwardly commended the sisters’ flower choices for indoor decorations. None of the flowers were too flashy or too dull, smelled too strongly or too bland. They didn’t take attention but their sweet scents underlined the sugary atmosphere of the café.

Historia approached their table with some plates in hand. Much to his surprise, she didn’t stop and take their orders in her little girl voice or even give them her blinding smile. She shifted the plates to her left hand and reached out for the shoulder of Zeke’s companion, giving it a little squeeze before walking away.

This was new; Levi didn’t know Historia was actually dating someone. Sure, she was pretty cute and had millions of admirers falling at her feet every now and then but he had never chalked her up to be the type of girl who’d actually go and accept someone. Levi wondered what this man must have done to finally win over her affections where hundreds of others had failed. She went away and Levi pulled his chair closer to the table to see who the lottery winner was.

He forgot to take his next sip of tea.

The man was undoubtedly gorgeous, from his white shirt that tightly hugged his chest to the hazelnut strands of hair that hung about his eyes. Levi’s fingers twitched around the cup's handle, wanting to gently tuck away those strands behind his ear. He had a strong, youthful face – definitely in his early twenties or maybe even a few years younger, Levi thought, thumb tracing the rim of his teacup. Like Zeke, he too wore a black blazer and tie, visibly pressed as he sat straight, looking around the café. Levi observed him some more, storing the broad shoulders and sharp jawline in his memory for future reference.

Years of training, teaching and fighting had taught Levi well how to read anyone by just a simple glance. People merely looked, but didn’t observe. The little twitches in the corner of one’s mouth, a shift or tremble of the finger, a hesitant breath, the language they spoke with their eyes – Levi reveled in studying all these minuscule acts that had earned him the title of Recon’s Strongest and the position of the right hand man of the Director. He could unravel anyone apart to their core and weave them back, the feat as easy as knitting a sock. Identifying the fake from the real, the lie from the truth, the deceit from the sincerity – no one could hide anything from him.

The brunet’s face was alight with simple curiosity and ease as he skimmed his surroundings; a small smile curved over his mouth when he saw a little girl at one of the tables scribble on her sibling’s face with a red crayon. Innocence. He sat with his knees pressed together, left feet tapping the foot of the table. Energetic. His hands played with the edge of the armchair’s cushion as he tried to pluck on a stray string. Perhaps too energetic. Plump cheeks. Perfect for pulling. He saw Freida, grinned at her, and two deep dimples made their presence known. Hair tied up in a pleasantly messy bun. Must have woken up in a hurry. Perfect for ruffling. He was leaning in his chair at a worrying angle; anymore and he would receive an intense bang to the head. His eyes darted from here to there, noting every little motion and activity going about him. Easily entertained or excited. Conclusion: A happy little puppy.

Historia had good taste. Levi took another sip from his cup.

As though magically summoned by his thinking, she appeared out of nowhere.

“Need anything else, sir?”

“Just the bill,” he told her.

“That’s all? Another muffin?” she asked, brows furrowed. “You look pale today,”

“No,” Levi quickly replied. He wasn’t hungry anymore. He gathered his coat and pushed the plate towards her. “I’ll come back later if the need arises,”

Historia still seemed worried. “Should I pack you some stuff for lunch?”

“No,” Levi said again. “Just the bill please,”

She shrugged, took his plate and prepared to go when he stopped her. “Who’s that guy at the table with Zeke? Your boyfriend?”

Historia glanced at the specified table and laughed. “Oh no, we’re not dating. He’s a really good friend of mine, that’s all. Oh, and Zeke’s little brother,”

The cup slipped from Levi’s hand as he gaped at her. _“What?”_

“Zeke’s brother,” Historia repeated. “You didn’t know?”

“The monkey has a brother?!”

“Yeah!” Historia said. “He’s at Recon as well – my classmate, actually,”

Levi raised his brows, the information too wild to process. “That bearded shithole has a baby sibling who’s a recruit at Recon? Seriously?”

Historia flinched at his language but nodded. “They come here all the time. Zeke is always here for the coffee, says he can’t function without drinking a coffee that has ‘the magic of Freida Reiss’ in it,” she pulled a face, “But Eren is an absolute sweetheart. He loves the cakes. Chocolate truffle with an extra drizzle chocolate sauce, chocolate flakes, a mountain of whipped cream on top and a bar of chocolate on the side. Preferably with hazelnuts,”

“That’s a lot of chocolate,” Levi muttered, taking his almost empty cup and raising it to his lips for a sip. Ah, so he had a sweet tooth as well.

“Mm. Freida keeps a stack of Hershey's kisses just for him. He’s pretty popular here you know? Whenever he comes here, all the girls simultaneously share one brain cell and stop what they’re doing just to ogle at him,” she let out a little giggle. “The sad thing is, while I can tell the guys are after me and read their stupefied looks, Eren has no clue whatsoever. Makes me want to hit his dense head with a club,”

“Mm,” Levi jostled the cup. Dumb puppy then.

“Just the bill?”

“Yeah,”

She went to get it, allowing him to see again. The brunet was still leaning in his chair and he watched Historia go when their eyes met.

 _Ocean_.

His predicament came true: the chair tilted far too left and Zeke’s brother crashed to the floor with a painful thud, the crass sound of wood dragging on the floor making Levi shut his eyes. When he opened them, the brunet was already on his feet, one hand clamped to his forehead while the other righted the fallen armchair. Historia rushed to him and encased him in a hug, scolding him harshly as she undid his bun and rubbed the back of his head. He shook his head and tried to push her away, uncomfortable with the excessive coddling. When he said something, Historia went away at once; probably to get him something for the pain. 

Levi sat there in stunned silence, the bright viridian color still fresh in his mind. He had seen plenty of people with strange and vivid eyes during his lifetime but none as striking as that greenish-blue hue. What was he, a forest sprite? He pulled his chair closer to sneak another peek at those fascinating eyes.

The brunet was still holding his head, teeth gritted while Zeke’s obnoxious laughter could be heard from the front of the café. Levi moved a pot of pink gladiolus aside and craned his neck to properly see the brunet.

For the second time that day, their eyes made contact and Levi stared into the strange green-blue irises, intrigued. Just like some forest sprite - bright and lively. They twinkled back before widening in terror.

Levi frowned - was there something wrong with his face?

He must have stared too hard for the brunet turned his face away, expression that of undiluted panic. Just then, Historia returned with the bill. Levi paid the exact amount and got up, tucking his chair back in and nodding at the young trainee before quickly walking out of the café. Maybe the man was just shaken by how dreadful Levi looked that morning. Unsurprising - Levi himself had had a heart attack upon seeing his reflection in the mirror.

And though he couldn’t give two fucks about other people’s opinions on him, he couldn’t ignore the tiniest flickers of hurt that spiked his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so thrilled about the attention this fic is getting! Thank you guys :D  
> Your kudos and comments mean a great deal to me, so please don't hesitate in leaving any!


	5. Recon Corps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi gets a new partner

Unlocking the car door with its usual click, Levi slid inside and used more force than necessary to slam it shut. The key was inserted in and turned; the engine roared to life. Levi put his foot down and sped away from the café, feeling slightly guilty about not having said a proper goodbye to either Historia or Freida.

He would make it up to them next time.

Levi wasn’t the biggest fan of the radio but he turned it up nevertheless. He didn’t pay attention to the oaf ranting about some kind of new detergent that was sweeping the globe and had the housewives swooning, even though such type of news were of his interest; he drove on vacantly, the words serving as a mere filler to the emptiness he felt that day. The weather, the panic attack, the usual lack of sleep, not to mention, the lack of proper food – Levi clamped a hand to his forehead. He felt so _drained_.

And he felt drained _all_ the time. It didn’t help matters that his headaches led to sudden moody outbursts that had landed him one too many times in the Director’s office. Hanji and Mike never failed to bring it up, constantly chastising him to keep his head together.

Those were useless conversations. He ended up kicking them out or storming off himself.

Levi was a man who constantly kept everything about him veiled, kept everything wrapped behind a thick mist that clung to him. Pushing down and suppressing his emotions was the only way he could deal with them. The only way he could survive.

For how long, he didn’t know. His unhealthy and frustrating lifestyle was getting to him. He knew he had to change, he knew that there was an enormous amount of truth behind what his friends told him – they were looking out for him and Levi couldn’t appreciate them enough for that. Even if he wanted to strangle them sometimes. He agreed with them, albeit bitterly.

He didn’t know how he was supposed to change. Getting more sleep? He’d have better luck proving the Earth was flat. Eating proper food? Everything he ate made him hunch over the toilet. Taking medications? Levi didn’t trust those pills. They had ridiculous names. And the side effects made him moodier.

Turning around a corner, he had to slam his foot down on the brakes and force the car to a screeching halt as a terrified cat darted across and disappeared behind a trash can. He sucked in his breath, heart racing.

 _Damn_ it.

Maybe he should have accepted Historia’s offer for another muffin. His breakfast had vanished already.

Levi pinched his temple. He wanted to _sleep_. No, wait – he wanted something to distract him; something to keep his mind off things. His body never let him sleep. Overworking and straining himself until he finally conked out was the only thing that worked on him. And it was something Kuchel always disapproved of.

Tuning down the screaming idiot behind the radio, Levi drove ahead. His headache had returned again, determined to haunt him for the rest of the day. Which meant another sleepless night.

Levi pressed his foot against the pedal harder. Maybe he could collapse on his desk again after going through some case reports. He didn’t know what strange magic his office possessed, but sleeping in a chair behind his desk always helped to balance him. In fact, he actually could sleep better in his office than at his own home – another reason for him to stay up late at his workplace. Kuchel disapproved of that as well.

As he drove idly, Levi’s thoughts strayed away from his nonsensical sleeping habits and skipped over to the color green – those bright eyes were in front of him and Levi was forced to confront the fact that Zeke Yeager actually had a little brother. In all his years of working at Recon and bearing with Zeke’s bullshit, Levi had not once known that the monkey had a sibling. He didn’t know why that bothered him. It wasn’t like he and Zeke were budding friends. Zeke hung around with Mike and Moblit a lot and he did make occasional snide remarks at Levi, but that was it. As far as budding friends went, Levi was surer that they were budding rose thorns than anything – waiting to prick the other’s skin.

No, it was more about the fact that he didn’t even know what was going on about his workplace. His reputation as Recon’s most elite would go down the drain if he wasn’t aware of the simplest things about his job, like the fact that there was another Yeager training to possibly become another menace to society. When was he going to graduate? And whose partner would he become?

The graduates were usually paired up with the veterans. Levi gave a thankful sigh as he turned around a corner and sped along a clean, empty road – he already had a partner and thus was spared from the gruesome fate of having to babysit a rookie agent. Even though there was a considerable amount of tension between him and Ian, who tended to be a laid-back pig most of the time. Most of their arguments stemmed from Levi’s tendency to spray everything that Ian touched with chlorax and wipe it three times; in Levi’s defense, the man’s grubby fingers were permanently greasy and made it impossible for him to use the mouse after Ian was done with the computer. It was a miracle they were both still working together.

The radio switched over to a jingle for chewing gum so loud it shot an arrow straight at his eardrums. Turning the blasted thing down, he resumed his idle drive.

* * *

After about an hour of driving, Levi finally pulled up into a parking lot shadowed by a towering glass panel building. He closed the door behind him after taking his bag and locked the car. Shoes echoing loudly on the concrete path in a satisfying way, he approached the gigantic work of engineering and walked to the main entrance. A set of automated, clear glass doors welcomed him and let him enter.

The hall was immaculate, with polished tiles and pleasant cream walls. There was a large framed painting of the starry night hanging on the wall opposite to the entrance. Three plush sofas arranged in the shape of a ‘C’ surrounded a glass coffee table with a simple vase on top containing a few fake but bright flowers. There was an elevator beside a fleet of stairs.

A perfect hotel for over-friendly and obnoxious tourists. On the outside.

The hall was devoid of any presence save for him and one other. The receptionist, hidden behind the morning’s paper with only her neatly manicured nails peeking out from either side, put the paper down and met Levi with pale eyes.

“Good morning Lee,”

“Same,” Levi made no comment on the nickname. Nanaba was fond of it.

“Ouch. No sleep again?” Nanaba gave him a sympathetic smile and Levi sighed.

“I’d have better luck seducing a cactus. How is Mike?”

“Tripped over the cat this morning. Apart from that, he’s magnificent,” Nanaba shook her head and chuckled. “He’s with Erwin right now. Oh, that reminds me –” she folded her paper neatly and pulled a drawer open. Levi waited for a while as she rummaged in it for something and emerged back seconds later with an envelope in hand. “Erwin wants you in his office.” she handed the document to him.

Levi took it with a frown. “What did I do?”

“It’s not you… it’s Ian,”

The frown deepened. “What did Ian do?”

Nanaba sucked her breath in, her face taking on the ‘oh you poor sweetie, I’m so sorry for you’ look. Levi groaned.

“I’m fucking tired,”

“I know Lee,” Nanaba said, closing the drawer, “but you two have been in a bit of a tight spot as of late. Especially with your recent case,”

“Operation Blueberry,” Levi said automatically. The credit for the baptism went to Hanji.

“Yeah… he… well, he – Erwin will be able to explain better,”

Levi stuffed the envelope into his laptop bag. “Thanks,” he deadpanned. “I’m so pumped for what commander eyebrows has to say,”

“Look on the bright side, he might brew you a cup of tea,” Nanaba shrugged. “He owes you one,”

“He owes me a _lot_ ,” Levi corrected her and went to the elevator. “And I will never, _ever_ drink somebody else’s tea,”

When the elevator opened to let him in, Levi punched in the code without glancing at the numbers. He caught a quick glimpse of Nanaba going back to her paper before the doors shut him in and started with a jolt.

One of the most blessed things in the world was the absence of a cheap elevator ring. It helped him think. Levi leaned on one side, wondering what Erwin wanted with him now and what the envelope Nanaba had handed over contained. Probably something that Hanji had recently managed to uncover about Operation Blueberry. Their last lead had led them to a dead end and they had temporarily abandoned the case because of it.

And Erwin… well, Ian must have ticked him off again. If he wasn’t called for the purpose of being scolded like a kindergarten child that had pissed its pants for the twenty-fifth time in a row despite clearly being instructed to tell a teacher when nature called, then Levi was going to eat shoe polish.

He sighed, checking his watch.

9:20 A.M.

The ride was a long one – he was going _miles_ underground to reach his destination and if it weren’t for the state of the art technology Recon was equipped, going this far underground would have been nothing short of absolute torture to any ordinary human.

The elevator opened with a ding and Levi stepped out into a web of darkness, the only light that chased its black strands away coming from a single bulb sitting atop a pair of steel automated doors. He took a few steps towards it, stopping right before a tiny slit at the center of the left door.

He bent down so that his eyes were at level with the slit. After a brief moment, the familiar irritating sensation of the laser scanning his eyes greeted him and Levi had to blink a few times to get rid of the feeling. The tiny hole next to the slit blinked green and the doors slid apart smoothly.

The din of a thousand chattering voices and the blinding light like a billion glinting pearls were what always welcomed him to his workplace – Recon Corps.

The steadfast partner of the FBI when it came to dirtying their hands, Recon Corps was an international organization bent on keeping world peace and deactivating the criminal network of the underground. Boasting of the most elite agents, trailblazing techies and techs, the largest number of trainees to graduate and secure positions as right-hands of top tier agents, a dizzying maze of a headquarters and the most perfect and divine ice cream machine (nothing like the one at McDonald’s; ask the rookies), the network appeared to be a jaw-dropping, polished five-star hotel on the outside. On the inside,

It was still a hotel. The headquarters was located miles underground.

It took a few blinks for Levi to acclimatize his eyes to the brightness of the entrance hall, which seemed to burn through his retinas. Young males and females, all clad in special black gear or formal attire like his were bustling about their business, stopping to hail a familiar face and chat or looking for their superiors to hand in the latest report of cases that were yet to be looked into. The rookies mainly dominated the entrance hall; the veterans had their own separate quarters located at a safe distance from the explosive shenanigans of the young graduates.

The entrance hall of the headquarters was, to simply put it, _mega gigantic._ It stretched on and on, so far along that if you stood at the entrance, you couldn’t make out where the end was. The walls were all white and the ceiling was a great dome of glass and metal panels with intricate metal rafters holding it up. The area Levi was in was merely half of the entrance hall. It was lined with millions of cubicles – tiny structures as big as an average, comfortable bedroom that were actually stylized personal offices. These were occupied by senior and mid-level agents who normally ventured out into the fields and were the ones to get caught up in the thickest of things.

Every agent had a partner, chosen or assigned. Detailed reports regarding a particular crime were delivered to these agents through a complex system simplified to a tiny tablet with all the necessary information. Their job was to investigate more on the case and report their findings, if any, back to HQ, where the experts analyzed their evidence and specified what to do next. Most of the time, their leads ended up cooling faster than a glass of hot water in a freezer and would suddenly jump back to life again some odd months later. Some cases were solved in a matter of hours. Some took months; then there were tricky specimens that had taken decades.

Like Operation Blueberry.

As Levi walked through the hall, he received many greetings and salutes which he acknowledged with a curt nod, pace brisk.

A glass wall loomed ahead, which split the main entrance hall into two: one was this area cluttered with cubicles and agents yelling around for their partners or frantically searching for their lost papers and documents. The glass wall had a set of automated doors situated in the middle through which Levi went, entering the second half of the hall.

If it had been anybody else, they would have shit themselves and run out of there faster than the average teenager who realizes they haven’t done their chores right when their mother pulls into the parking lot. But it was Levi, who had been working in here for a really long time and had grown accustomed to the exotic atmosphere of his workplace.

He ducked gracefully as a long metal rod soared right above his head and crashed into the wall, spluttering and choking, its end spewing fire. A screech followed this fine welcome:

“OH NOES, MY POOR BABY!”

Hanji tumbled into view, glasses askew and hair a level 10 hurricane catastrophe, with some locks slipping out of her burnt shower cap. Levi was less bothered by her frantic eyes that seemed to pop out of her sockets and more concerned about the poor metal firecracker that had suffered so terribly in her hands. It puffed and huffed as it tried to drill a hole into the pristine tiles.

“Do I have to ask?”

“Absolutely,” Hanji took off her shower cap and used it to pick up the metal rod. It gave another wheeze of sparks and tried to set her lab coat on fire.

Levi frowned. “Is this your new goal now? Trying to become the world’s shittiest kebab?”

Hanji spun the rod and tried to hit Levi with it but he just caught it with his index finger and thumb. She wrenched it from his grip and staggered backward a little. Upon regaining her balance, she stuck out her tongue.

“Say what you want, this new child of mine is going to revolutionize the world of explosives. ‘Tis, my fine companion, is what I call a ‘thunder spear’.” She announced grandly and spun it again. “As of yet, not the perfect and pragmatic little missile I have envisioned it to be, but we’ll get there. Good for making stuff go kablooey,”

“I’m still waiting for when you’ll go kablooey,” Levi remarked dryly. “Is Erwin in his office?”

At his words, Hanji let out a squeal whose pitch could have shattered the glass wall behind them. Which was supposed to be indestructible and soundproof, in addition to not letting anyone from either side know what was going on at both ends.

“OH, I ALMOST FORGOT!” She threw her smoking rod away and thumped Levi on the back with her huge palm that made him stagger forward and possibly broke a few vertebrae. “Erwin wants you in his office ASAP. He’s planned a special surprise for you!”

“What?”

Hanji merely wagged her eyebrows. “Oh, you’ll see. In fact, I’m going there right now, so you’re coming with me to enjoy your surprise!” And just like that, without giving him a chance to say anything in the matter, Hanji had already firmly closed her fingers around his upper arm and dragged him to the end of the hall. She discarded the dirty lab coat and her shower cap to reveal her black Recon gear underneath. Veterans wore the gear all the time, but Levi liked his suits better; the hundred buckles and belts were constricting and vexing to undo after a long day behind his desk.

The second half of the entrance hall had been developed into a sort of lab for Hanji and her companions to work on developing terrifying weapons for both Recon use and the military. Loads of agents in white lab coats and blue scrubs scurried along from here to there, some holding huge beakers full of contents that Levi was perfectly content with not knowing about. Others were welding pieces of metals together _without_ protective goggles. Everybody in here seemed to be a slut for burns and fractures. Some even like to play the occasional game of chess with Death.

But the lab was incredible in its own way. Gadgets, weaponry, and chemicals were invented every day, all amazing and more unique than the last. A small part of the lab was devoted to medical stuff where an elite team of scary einsteins worked on discovering or inventing cures for ghastly diseases and infections that the public wasn’t even aware of existed. Battling a mutant bacteria and its army was just another item to cross off your bucket list when you worked at Recon.

“Did Nanaba tell you anything?” Hanji asked now, snapping Levi out of his musings. He shook his head.

“Only that Ian’s in trouble with Mr. Big. That and Mike tripping over a cat,”

“Twisted his ankle,” Hanji said sympathetically, leading Levi out of the experimental area and through another pristine corridor where they encountered other agents. Rico and her unnerving face, Gelgar’s stupid hair, Ankha and Petra walking together with cups of steaming coffee – the latter being a part of Levi’s squad amidst three others – balding Ness and his partner Sys, Lyn with a band-aid on his cheek and Henning; they hailed Hanji with smiles and japes, while Levi received a salute or a ‘good morning’.

He had known them for ten years. He had fought alongside them for seven of those years.

The corridor ended in a fleet of stairs alongside an elevator. Punching the button, Hanji tapped her knuckles impatiently on the wall. When the doors slid apart, she shoved Levi in and entered behind him.

“What exactly have you and Erwin planned?” Levi had every right to suspect them. Especially Hanji.

His friend merely grinned. “Oh, I think you know. It’s what you’ve been begging for years~” she sang into his ear. Levi took a few steps away from her and sighed, rubbing his forehead again. He turned his face away to hide but Hanji was sharper than a hawk’s talons.

“Again?”

“What do you think?”

“I think,” she was frowning now, “that you should stop trying to have sex with your desk and actually get out with someone,”

Levi groaned. They had been through this a hundred times already and he was not in the mood for another sermon about his unhealthy life choices. “I like fucking my desk,”

“And I like making things go kablooey, but you don’t see me doing that all the time!” Hanji huffed and crossed her arms. “Well, probably because I have Moblit to restrain me, but that’s not the point; the point is, you spend your time too much in that office of yours and you need to fucking relax every once in a while! You’re human! And you have your limits! You are one step away from crossing the line tumbling over into the void of no return!”

Levi removed his hand from his eyes and looked up at her. “I know,”

His voice was so heavy and bitter, even Hanji turned down her glare and replaced it with a dejected look. “Levi, this isn’t good for you,”

“Then what is?” Levi raised a fist and slammed it into the elevator wall, the sharp clang of metal ringing in his ears. He hadn’t meant to suddenly explode like that, but he was _sick_. So fucking sick of the same arguments; no matter what he did, their conversation always went around in circles and there was no way out of it. It always came down to this – Hanji saying something about him and Levi yelling back at her for it. At least Mike tried to distract him from the topic, but Hanji kept going back to puncture the same balloon.

“This is,” Hanji said, some sparkle of excitement back in her face. “What Erwin and I are doing for you,”

“What?” Levi asked dully. “Let me guess, I’m getting a replacement partner?”

“Bingo!”

“Wait, what?” Levi almost dropped his bag as he turned to stare at her.

“Ian resigned!” Hanji said gleefully. “He told Erwin that he has had enough with you and your bullshit and wants to be assigned to a new partner!”

It took a while for Levi to process this news; he and Ian had been partners since forever (well, kind of) and they had never gotten along like best buddies. Still, they had worked quite well in the field. But to think that the man had finally blown a fuse and now chosen to quit – that was…

“Good news! I know!” Hanji thumped him on the back. “For both of you. He had a point – you really were driving him nuts,”

“Please,” Levi muttered. The number of times Ian had made Levi want to tie him up to a wall and peel the flesh off him – more times than he had taken a shit, he reckoned. If what Hanji said was actually true and he was getting another partner assigned to him… then that would mean a reduction in the number of factors that gave him headaches. Apart from that though, he failed to see how getting a new partner would improve his terrible sleep disorders and mood swings.

“Just you wait – I picked him myself!” Hanji said smugly. The elevator stopped with a ding and they stepped out.

The new, dark place they were in now was the heart of Recon – the Director’s office. His was a cool, humongous room with simple grey highlights and a gigantic screen fixed on the wall behind his desk, which was the only thing in the entire room.

“Show off,” Levi said under his breath, gaze meeting calculating eyes staring right at him. What was the use of having such a huge place if all one was going to do was sit behind a tiny desk in the center?

Clad in a pitch black four-piece with his blonde hair sharply parted to the side, Erwin stood up from his chair and came forward. The Manager of a five-star hotel, should any innocent person ask. Though no Manager would scan his clients as though he were x-raying them and their souls for future blackmail. His icy eyes, silent yet powerful aura, tall and bulky figure plus his smooth and elegant manners were a dangerous combination and one that had earned him the position of the Director.

“What?” Erwin’s voice was mild and teasing. That or commanding were the only tones Levi had grown to associate with him. Apart from that, there was no indication to suggest that Erwin was remotely a person. A normal one, at least.

“That stupid desk,” Levi replied, “Couldn’t you get a bigger one? It’s annoying seeing that tiny sad little thing in the middle of this palace. I want to shove it to a corner,”

“OCD kicking in again?” Erwin gave him a small smile. “Funny, that’s what Ian had just been arguing with me about. Somewhere along the lines of ‘absolute maniac, slave-driver and the fucking grim reaper who only knows to reap my joys and coffee breaks instead of my life’. A very enlightening speech,”

“Psh,” Levi turned his head away. “I’ll reap more than that if given the chance. My hair will be all shiny and white by the time I turn thirty,”

Hanji snorted at that. “Pfft, he’s not that bad; you just like to be a drama queen.” She tried to punch his arm but Levi steered away with a scowl. “It’s true that some of the faults lie with you as well for being so stingy with him,”

“He likes to sit, eat chips, toss the wrapper on the floor, rinse and repeat,” Levi said. “If I needed a toddler for my partner, I would have said so. He doesn’t handle the reports, procrastinates the entire day and is barely interested in doing anything besides arguing with Oluo about who has more chest hair. Listen, I would have managed with him if it weren’t for the fact that he is a downright slob. I need someone competitive as my partner, someone who is responsible, someone who knows how to fucking add one and one, someone who –” Levi raised his hands in the air and made fists, biting his lip as he exhaled loudly, “– someone who knows how to… someone… I just need someone who actually works _with_ me than… than just sitting around and piling the burden on my head,” he finished, grabbing a nearby chair and plopping himself on it. “I’m tired of being a babysitter. I want a partner who actually behaves like a partner,”

He didn’t look up to see what expressions Hanji and Erwin wore. He knew that already. The _‘oh I’m so sorry for you, you poor baby’_ look made him want to slam them into a wall. He hated it when others pitied him. He didn’t want their non-committal, senseless, stupid sympathy and coos. He wanted a blueberry muffin and some decent fucking sleep.

“Oh, you poor baby,”

Levi grit his teeth. There it was.

“Well that’s why Mike, Nanaba, Hanji, Moblit and I have decided to assign you to a new partner,” Erwin announced in a cheery voice that made Levi scowl harder.

He had definitely picked out someone horrible to entertain himself by watching Levi train his new partner to sit, stand and roll over.

“That’s the surprise!” Hanji cheered.

“That is not a surprise,” Levi said flatly. “Who?”

Erwin went to his desk to retrieve a single envelope neatly placed at the center, suggesting that he had probably been adjusting its position a million times prior to Levi’s arrival. He handed the brown file over with a smug smile as if he were single-handedly saving the universe with his actions.

“Gee, wonder who I got?” Levi took the envelope from him and flipped it to its front. When he tried to open it, he discovered the flap had been glued tight.

“Why the fuck would you glue the flap?!”

Erwin only smiled wider. “I have a penchant for things staying neat, orderly and in their place,”

“Oh, so do you even use two mirrors to show you the perfect reflection of your arsehole after you take a shit?” Levi shook the envelope, trying to tear the flap off. “So that you can wipe your butt squeaky clean?”

“You flatter me,”

“Bastard,” Levi peeled the flap off the paper, clicking his tongue when some stubborn bits didn’t break away and clung to the front. It wasn’t like he hated them or anything; Hanji, Erwin, Nanaba and the others were his comrades and he trusted them with his life as much as they trusted him with theirs. But being a professional agent didn’t mean that they wouldn’t try to meddle in with his personal life every now and then and annoy him so bad he wanted to chuck them into a toilet and flush it. And they never even paid heart to his insults or death threats anyway so it was all in good fun.

He pulled the shiny photo paper out and stared at the picture of his new partner. Green eyes stared back at him.

“Do you like it?” Hanji eagerly poked his arm. “He’s going to graduate in tomorrow’s graduation ceremony and then boom! He’ll be whisked off straight to be the partner of our top agent!”

“No” was what Levi could say.

“What ‘no’?” Hanji demanded. “He’s perfect! I’ve checked him all out and let me tell you, as far as opposites go, he and Ian are like me and you! Tea and coffee! Harry Potter and Twilight! Anime and K-Pop! Books and –”

“First of all,” Levi cut in between, “where the fuck does anime and your pop songs come into this list? They’re both equally bad,”

Hanji looked mortally offended. “Excuse you!”

“Second of all, you’re assigning me a partner who _hasn’t fucking graduated yet?!_ I said I want a replacement partner, not a snot-nosed baby!” he stood up waved the paper at Erwin’s monstrous caterpillars. “You’re giving me a baby?! A fucking baby, that’s what this is!” He pointed at the picture of the recruit, then back at himself. “Erwin, am I a substitute parent?”

“Levi, you’ve got this all wrong,” Erwin said saintly. “Now listen to me – no, _listen –_ ” he held up a hand before Levi could angrily blurt out what he had to say, “– you are changing partners in the middle of the year. Because of that, I can’t find you a veteran agent to team up with. Ian has already found a partner in Mitabi and they both get along like peanut butter and jelly and who am I to break that up –”

“You’re the fucking Director!” Levi butted in, making Erwin sigh. “You’re their fucking boss! Assign Mitabi to me!”

A kid! They were assigning him to a kid! How was Levi supposed to concentrate on his job and look after a kid – his reputation for having an explosive temper and a stingy personality was infamous at Recon and now a little brat was going to be his partner, sighing and crying because Levi Ackerman, the top, the best, the most elite, the oh-so-very-brave-and-strong Levi Ackerman wasn’t the amazing hero who patted everyone on the back and distributed cookies and gummy bears to the kid and his snot-nosed friends. Levi considered making a run for it while he still could and drag Ian back to his office.

And moreover, it was _him._ The man from the café.

Zeke Yeager’s little brother. He was going to be paired up with the baby sibling of his most hated and annoying colleague. Fuck the universe and its never-ending bullshit. Of all the coincidences that had to occur – oh wow, he just _had_ to be paired up with the one man who had seen him in the café and had fallen of his chair in fright after seeing his hideous face. Fucking brilliant. Maybe he would continue to keep falling off his chair every time Levi turned around to say hi.

“I don’t want him,” Levi tried to throw the paper at Erwin but it sort of flapped lamely and floated to the floor where Hanji picked it up.

“No.” Erwin was firm. “Ian is not going to let go of Mitabi. They have been friends for quite some time now and they are perfectly happy with their arrangement. You, on the other hand, are a worse problem to deal with than a category ten hurricane,”

“Oh come on, I’m not as bad as Hanji,”

“HEY!”

“Ok, that is actually true,” Erwin admitted and immediately received a fierce punch to his chest. “Ow.” He rubbed the place, making a show of his pain while Hanji crossed her arms with an indignant huff. “My point is,” he said, turning back to Levi, “I have never received as many complaints about their assigned partner as much as I have received from you and Ian. I used them as tinder and they kept me warm for the whole of winter last year. Levi, I know you don’t get along with people very well –”

“I had a partner,” Levi said bitterly. “He was all I needed,”

Erwin didn’t continue. And even Hanji chose to stay silent.

The atmosphere became heavier and so did the new lump that had found a place to haunt his throat. Levi felt his eyes burn and turned away with a loud curse, curling his fingers into a fist. That blasted attack – he was so _tired_ of dealing with the same nonsense every single goddamn day. When was he going to get out?

“Levi,” Hanji finally said in the softest voice he had ever heard her use. “I –”

“Don’t.” Levi was proud that his words were strong. At least he still knew how to do that. “Just… fine. I’ll take him,”

He took the paper from his friend and looked at it again, forcing the lump down and trying not to blink to avoid blotches on the paper. A youthful, handsome face smiled back, eyes twinkling brightly.

So brightly.

He checked the folder for more, going through the details of the recruit. Feeling that it was safe to continue speaking now, Erwin cleared his throat. “Eren Yeager. A recruit from the 104th training group. Nineteen years of age and the younger, half-brother of Zeke Yeager, whom you know is the head of the laboratory and co-researcher to Hanji,”

“Half-brother?” Levi frowned.

“The youngest son of Grisha Yeager, who married Eren’s mother after his first wife didn’t survive childbirth. He is ten years younger than both Zeke and you,” Erwin explained.

“How thoroughly have you scanned him?” Levi asked. “Do you know what color underwear he prefers too?”

Hanji snorted. “Nah. But he’s a brilliant guy. I had a word with Keith Shadis yesterday and he says the kid has ranked fifth out of all trainees graduating this year, despite not showing any special talent in any particular field. He is skilled and strong though. Quick learner, good instincts and reflexes, works hard, has a tight-knit group of friends, fucking amazing at hand to hand combat; you should have seen him yesterday –” she made frantic punching motions, “– he was epic! Knocked out a beefy cadet taller than him by two heads and then helped him back up again, all smiles. Not a sore loser. And not egoist; he’s a bit rash and bull-headed, Keith says, and occasionally goes for a headbutt with this jackass classmate of his, but apart from that, he’s a good boy. Gold star. Also, look at him!” Hanji gushed at his picture. “How can you say no to that adorable smile? He is like a puppy that just wants to be adopted into a new home! You know what they say: jack of all trades, master of none –”

“– better than being a master at one,” Levi completed. One could be averagely skilled at many things, not perfect at any of them. Yet that was better than being excellent at only one thing and being a dumbass with the rest.

“I would have picked the top of the class; she’s amazing as well,” Hanji told him, “but she’s kinda… uh, how do you put it… I thought you would like someone more… open and friendly? To be honest, the top graduate scares me. She’s like you. That wouldn’t be good,”

Levi traced his thumb over the cadet’s name, thinking.

Eren Yeager.

Would he be better than Ian? Or would he be worse – judging Levi every step of the way, doubting him and hating him? Always bitter and disappointed with his actions? Would he hate Levi too? Would he call Levi a slave-driver and what not and grumble behind his back? Would he send another thousand or so notes to Erwin, demanding a new partner? Would he scoff and mock Levi for not being the person he should have been?

“Levi, the graduates will be assigned to new partners on the day after tomorrow,” Erwin spoke now. “I know he’s a young cadet and that you'd prefer someone with more experience but, shouldn’t they be given a chance to fight as well? Especially the ones who want to step up and fight? That’s what Recon is for – fighting the injustice in this world, fighting to bring out a better change, standing up for what’s right – it’s why you came here as well, didn’t you? You wanted to fight for those who couldn’t fight for themselves,”

Levi’s fingers twitched. His thumb traced the cadet’s name again.

“Give him a chance,” Hanji bent down a little to look him in the eyes. “He could be a far better partner than a thousand Ians. Let him fight with you. He might learn a few things from you. And you can learn from him as well,”

The cadet’s eyes were so bright. Bright green eyes full of life, full of promise, full of determination.

Full of hope.

Levi sighed.

“Tell him to be at my office at exactly nine or I’ll feed him to a shark,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to clarify, this is a slow burn fic but it's not going to be enemies to lovers. I absolutely adore Levi and Eren's canon relationship of a mentor and his student and I wanted to write a fic highlighting that relationship.  
> Ohhhhh, but you'll have plenty of fun bits to look forward to, don't worry ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )  
> Thank you for reading! Kudos and comments are my food, so I'll always appreciate anyone who tries to feed me! <3


	6. Words from top

“Uh… Singapore,”

Zeke hummed, tapping his fingers on the steering. After having bid a quick goodbye to Freida and a trip back to their parents’ home to get their car, they had set out for Recon along with Historia in the back seat, at Freida’s request.

“Ethiopia,”

Eren groaned. “Why do I always get an A?” He glared at Zeke from the corner of his eye and found his brother’s signature monkey grin plastered on his face.

“Suck it up,” Zeke turned the steering and put his foot down, speeding along the fairly empty road. Sneaking a glance at Eren, he produced his phone from his blazer pocket. “I’m recording this session so if you repeat any names, we’ll know,”

Historia snickered.

“Historia,” Eren twisted in his seat to look at her with a scowl.  She was clad in the black gear of Recon, complete with their insignia – two wings, one blue and the other white, crossed together – emblazoned on the right breast. “Tell Zeke this is not fair! He’s been naming places that end with an _A_ on purpose to sabotage me!”

She merely grinned, pushing her golden locks back with glamour. “Now, now,” she said in a sing-song voice, “you can’t make such flimsy accusations against your brother just because you’re sore about losing,”

Eren stared.

“You traitor!”

Historia Reiss was his best friend since middle school, where he had first met her after she bashed his face in with a football. His teeth had been shoved inwards because of it and Historia still brought up the incident occasionally to bully him. He had spent five years in agony with his braces, trying to pull his incisors outwards. When he had discovered she and Freida were saving up to open a café, he had smashed his piggy bank and run to their home, all pimpled and gangly and smiling, insisting that they accept his collection of coins and crumpled notes.

Freida still refused his money when he paid at the café. Eren had to pull her cash register open and shove his payment inside sometimes. It worried him how hard they both worked to run the place.

“Can’t you appoint another part-timer?” he had asked once while slurping on a chocolate milkshake. Historia had simply shaken her head.

“Freida and I opened this café. It’s our second home,”

He had even offered to work with them himself, but Freida had punched that proposal down the drain as well.

So he visited them every day, be it for a Hershey’s kiss from Freida, her divine coffee or an hour of teasing and thumb wrestling with Historia. She beat him every single time and it annoyed him to end – her fingers were dainty and tiny, unlike his large lumps of lard. How did she do that? It all came down to sorcery. Girls were witches, he and Zeke agreed. 

“Ten seconds is all you get,” Historia now announced smugly.

“We’re playing Atlas, what did you expect?” Zeke turned the steering. “Now cough up,”

“Allahabad!”

Zeke imitated a buzzer. “Try again,”

“Argentina?”

“That was over ten minutes ago,” Historia reminded him.

“Five seconds, Eren. If you don’t answer by then…”

“Angelica!”

“That is not a place Eren,”

“It is!” Eren jumped up in his seat and set his scowl on maximum. “It’s in New York!”

“Prove it,”

“Gimme that!” Eren lurched over in his seat, fighting the seat belt that tried to strangle him while he reached for Zeke’s phone. Zeke fought him off with one hand, aggressively poking him in the chest and trying his best to avoid ramming the car into a street lamp.

“SIT DOWN!”

“GIVE ME THE PHONE!” Eren pulled his ear, his flailing arm knocking Zeke’s glasses off his nose again. Zeke yelped and slammed the brakes, prompting Eren to kiss the windshield while Historia shrieked and tumbled forward into the gear and pushed it into reverse.

“Eren, for fuck’s sake!” Zeke pushed him away and bent down to retrieve his glasses. Only when they were safely planted on his nose again did he throw his phone at Eren, who caught it and quickly googled his query. He grandly held up the phone.

“Told you so,”

“Fine. One point.” Zeke switched the gear after Historia had settled back in her seat and put his foot down.

“Whose turn is it?”

“Mine,” Historia said from the back. “Angelica, was it?” Eren caught her looking at him in the rearview mirror and gave her a nod.

“Ok so…” she twisted her face as if swallowing ten pills without water. “That’s an A,”

Eren smirked at her from the mirror. “Ten seconds,”

* * *

An hour later found them walking on a concrete path that led to the doors of a towering glass building that revealed from within clean, white tiles and warm cream walls. The automated doors at the center slid apart silently to let the trio enter. Out of them, only Historia was wearing her gear; both Eren and Zeke had arrived in suits. They kept their gears in their lockers for it was vexing to buckle and unbuckle the thousand or so grapples and belts that lined the black uniform.

Zeke led them up to the receptionist’s desk behind which sat a small woman with pale blonde hair cropped so short Eren had mistaken her for a man upon his initial meeting. She was writing something down but paused and looked up when they approached her, a smile gracing her face.

“Good morning Zeke,”

“Morning,” Zeke smiled back. “What have you got there?”

“Oh, just some accounting details regarding the people occupying the hotel,” Nanaba pulled open one of the drawers and brought out some papers with a sigh. “A couple from Belgium has attracted a lot of complaints from other tenants regarding the amount of noise they make in their room,”

“… Sex?”

“Sex,” Nanaba affirmed tonelessly. “Recently married. Young and excited,”

“Mm,”

Eren and Historia glanced at each other, unsure how to pipe in with the conversation. Zeke and Nanaba were both two of the senior-most agents in Recon, having been working out in the field long before Eren and Historia had enrolled. Eren knew her to be a courteous but sharp woman, her skills in battle rivaling her partner, Mike Zacharius, who was the second-best agent in Recon. He knew most of the senior agents by sight, partly because they sometimes took drills for the recruits and partly because Zeke had given him various useful tidbits of information about them. Like the fact that Mike had proposed to Nanaba when he was terribly drunk and had run to the bathroom immediately after to throw up.

They were all amazing agents. Out in the field for more than ten years and they were still here, fresh and immaculate, keener than newly sharpened knives. And Eren bore boundless amounts of respect and awe for them in him, respect for how they stood tall and awe for how taller they grew. They were the ones who had risked their lives and dreams to fight back, to raise Recon from its early baby waddling to sprinting in a marathon for justice around the world. A marathon that grew longer the faster they ran.

Eren was soon going to run alongside them.

He felt something burn his palm and snapped his head down to find Historia’s thumb and index finger tightly pinching his skin. He snatched his hand away.

“What?”

Historia looked pointedly at the desk. Following her gaze, Eren saw Nanaba’s light eyes fixed on him.

“Eren Yeager,” she said softly. “Hello,”

“Hello,” Eren replied, surprised and a little amazed. He had never talked to a senior agent before.

“The 104th training batch, am I correct?” She surveyed him with interest. “You lot graduating tomorrow?”

Both Eren and Historia stood up straight. “Yes, mam.”

She switched her gaze to Historia for a fleeting second before returning to Eren. He knew she was taking a silent inventory of him. Head up, chin straight, body stiff and a small smile – that ought to tell her what she needed. Apparently, it did, for Nanaba relaxed and leaned back in her chair.

“Right. I don’t want to keep you waiting,” she nodded at them all, eyes lingering a few seconds longer on Eren.

“Ok. You coming down for lunch?” Zeke asked as he brushed aside some of the papers on the desk and hauled his messenger bag. “Mum made muffins,”

“What kind?”

“Apple and cinnamon,”

Nanaba beamed. “I’m taking them all,”

“No chance,” Zeke said and strode over to the elevator. Raising their fists over their hearts, Eren and Historia took their leave, wishing Nanaba a good morning, and followed Zeke into the elevator that he held open for them.

“Eren,”

He turned back before Zeke could press the button. “Yeah?”

Nanaba’s expression didn’t reveal anything. But her eyes were soft. “Good luck,”

As the doors shut them in, it suddenly occurred to Eren that he had never revealed his name to her.     

* * *

 

“Alright. Prepare to have your retinas burned in three, two, one –”

The glow that Eren was met with was almost blinding; it was that brilliant: like a thousand spotlights aimed right at his face. He staggered a little, the brightness pounding into his eyes. He felt his head pound as well from his earlier fall.

“Eren?”

“I’m fine,” Eren stood up straight and blinked ten more times before his eyes finally adjusted to the white sea with a million black dots swimming in it. The agents of Recon in their gear, bustling about like worker bees in their hives -  from one cubicle to another, one corridor to another, one elevator to another. When Eren had first stepped into the entrance hall of Recon, he hadn’t moved from his spot and stood with his lower jaw hanging twenty feet off his mouth for an hour. Zeke had come running back in a panic upon turning back and finding out Eren hadn’t followed him.

“I’m heading to the lab,” Zeke slung his bag over his shoulder and zipped it open, rummaging inside it for something. “Hanji said she was working on something awesome and needed a partner to destroy the lab with. And I promised,” He pulled out a paper bag and handed it to Eren, who lifted it to his nose and sniffed suspiciously.

“Does this have lesser muffins or more?”

“Lesser. You know I have a tremendous appetite,” Zeke took out another bag and dropped it in Historia’s hands. “This is yours. I’m off now, so you kids try not to cause trouble,” he zipped his bag and pushed his glasses up his nose.

“Says the monkey who’ll end up in the hospital wing sooner or later,” Historia hugged him, standing on the tip of her tiny legs. Zeke liked to gloat about how he was taller than her when he was in eighth grade. He usually ended up with a blackened eye afterward.

“I might be late,” Zeke hugged her back and mussed her hair, ruining her ponytail. “So drop her home ok?” he looked at Eren. “Freida will kill me,”

“Yeah, yeah,” Eren rolled his eyes. “Try not to burn this place down before I graduate,”

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Here's another chapter  
> I was having my exams and immediately after, I got the genius idea of drinking cranberry juice straight out of the fridge after getting soaked in the rain. So I have been sick for three weeks, but it's better now.  
> Feedback is appreciated! Thank you for reading <33

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again! I just simply drafted this out as a distraction from Deep and Deeper, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of Eren and Levi in a modern au where they both worked as secret agents for the government. The modern setting gave a wider field for me to work on, and I really needed fics of Eren having a happy family that included Zeke as well, so I came up with this! I hope you guys like this just as much as you liked my other works!


End file.
